Colored Cocoa Butter: The Topic

[Sweet Impact Mama]

4 hours ago, felipetruji said:

Mind sharing your source for the natural colors?

I will happily, once I find out if they will even sell it to me in "user" quantities. Actually, heck, I'll share it, but be warned that I'm working with the R & D samples they sent me and I haven't had any pricing quoted yet. I got so frustrated with the other options that I did a deep dive on Google and came up with this company. https://sensientfoodcolors.com/en-us/application-confection/

 

[Kerry Beal]

36 minutes ago, Sweet Impact Mama said:

It was this stuff. https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Butter-Anthonys-Gluten-Free-Non-GMO/dp/B00QU6FOGS?ref=ast_p_pc_bs

Some Peruvian cocoa butter seems to be claiming a melting point of 33º C - which is about a degree lower than others - so perhaps that might be a factor. I know that Brazilian cocoa butter has a significantly lower melting point than others.

[Sweet Impact Mama]

2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Some Peruvian cocoa butter seems to be claiming a melting point of 33º C - which is about a degree lower than others - so perhaps that might be a factor. I know that Brazilian cocoa butter has a significantly lower melting point than others.

 

Kerry, do you have one that you prefer?

 

[Kerry Beal]

34 minutes ago, Sweet Impact Mama said:

I will happily, once I find out if they will even sell it to me in "user" quantities. Actually, heck, I'll share it, but be warned that I'm working with the R & D samples they sent me and I haven't had any pricing quoted yet. I got so frustrated with the other options that I did a deep dive on Google and came up with this company. https://sensientfoodcolors.com/en-us/application-confection/

 

I've had samples from Sensient before - the natural colours were in the very early stages of development way back then and didn't last long. I suspect they may have improved over the years. 

[Sweet Impact Mama]

1 minute ago, Kerry Beal said:

I've had samples from Sensient before - the natural colours were in the very early stages of development way back then and didn't last long. I suspect they may have improved over the years. 

I'll be curious to see how these fare. They are the blue I used in my last Instagram post and I stocked them over at one of the local candy counters that carries my stuff... their lights are brutal on colors, so it will be a good test. 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, Sweet Impact Mama said:

 

Kerry, do you have one that you prefer?

 

I tend to use the deodorized from Cacao Barry, Belcolade, Felchlin and lately some from Shokinag. 

[Sweet Impact Mama]

Just now, Kerry Beal said:

I tend to use the deodorized from Cacao Barry, Belcolade, Felchlin and lately some from Shokinag. 

Thanks. I'll look into these. 

[Sweet Impact Mama]

Last month, I posted about the trouble I was having with the cocoa butter brand I was using that was over-spraying terribly. Kerry Beal was totally correct - it was the melting point. I switched to Callebaut's cocoa butter and it works perfectly. 

But the reason I was working with coloring my own was because I'd gotten in a bit deep on finding a source for all-natural dyes that work in cocoa butter. Only 3 colors from Chef Rubber's line have worked consistently well for me. One of the yellows, the Peruvian Purple and their white. And NO red or blue have come close to true colors that blend and are strong. My deep dive led me to https://sensientfoodcolors.com/en-us/

They've sent me their 3 microfine blues to sample and 2 of their reds. When they sent me the samples, the size of them sent me into both joy and dread. They were nicely generous, based on how little it takes to color several ounces of cocoa butter. The colors are VERY strong. But dread, because that probably means they'd need me to purchase more than I needed to have. (They have a 12-18 month shelf life. I have yet to ask if they can be frozen or anything to extend that time.) 

I've played around with them. Apparently, one of the big issues in the past, with natural colorants, is their ability to hold true color under lights, for very long. I haven't totally finished my tests, but the sales rep has been straight (i think) about which colors have been dependable and which ones aren't. Blues and Reds are apparently great. Their yellow, green and orange aren't the best. 

I'm attaching some photos from my "play time" with the colors. I've sent them and my experiences with the colors, to Chef Rubber's rep that handles their all natural color line. He hasn't responded yet (5 days and counting). Shouldn't be too surprised, since I'm not particularly of notice to companies that large. If I can't get them to consider working with Sensient, I'm probably going to have to go it alone. Which means I'd love to find a couple of other smallish chocolatiers who might be interested in splitting orders with me. Not sure if folks do that around here. 

So, here's the red and the blues. Any thoughts or ideas that this community might have, regarding how I can proceed from here, would be wonderful!






 

[Kerry Beal]

Nice!

[Sweet Impact Mama]

Just now, Kerry Beal said:

Nice!

Thank you!

 

[ElsieD]

Beautiful work!

[Sweet Impact Mama]

You guys are really kind. The top and middle pics are the only ones that were particularly worked on. The red & pink shiny ones were just pure play, to see how the reds worked out on dark chocolate.

[keychris]

How long is the time frame that is needed to hold their colour under lights (i.e. what amount of time is "not the best")? What is that relative to the shelf life / turn around time of the products you're producing? It might be a non-issue if those two times are the same

[Sweet Impact Mama]

Well, since they haven't done much testing on chocolates under lights, I'm not 100% sure. Most of my chocolates don't stay in the counter more than a few weeks, these days, but since they are at a wholesale customer's location, I don't have quite as tight of controls. I get the impression that they have not broken into the colored cocoa butter world at all. They seem to have been focused on markets such as cereals, beverages, baked goods, etc. I think they've gotten into candy coatings, but that's it. The company seems to be huge and their R & D department paperwork and sample distribution is serious... top notch paperwork, sample packing, etc. 

 

At this point, I'm quite happy with what I've seen with the blues and reds. But, like I said above, my biggest problem is that I'm just not able to go through their minimum size purchase, fast enough. 1kg of powder, when it only takes about 2 tsp max to do an 8 oz container of cocoa butter....One has to go through a LOT of each cocoa butter color in a year, to need that much. 

 

 

 

[Chocolot]

Is there a smell or taste to them?

[Kerry Beal]

26 minutes ago, Sweet Impact Mama said:

Well, since they haven't done much testing on chocolates under lights, I'm not 100% sure. Most of my chocolates don't stay in the counter more than a few weeks, these days, but since they are at a wholesale customer's location, I don't have quite as tight of controls. I get the impression that they have not broken into the colored cocoa butter world at all. They seem to have been focused on markets such as cereals, beverages, baked goods, etc. I think they've gotten into candy coatings, but that's it. The company seems to be huge and their R & D department paperwork and sample distribution is serious... top notch paperwork, sample packing, etc. 

 

At this point, I'm quite happy with what I've seen with the blues and reds. But, like I said above, my biggest problem is that I'm just not able to go through their minimum size purchase, fast enough. 1kg of powder, when it only takes about 2 tsp max to do an 8 oz container of cocoa butter....One has to go through a LOT of each cocoa butter color in a year, to need that much. 

 

 

 

Wonder if they would be willing to entertain something where you pay for the 1 kg at the beginning and they send you out 200 grams once a year? Though ultimately it probably makes the most sense to go in with a few other people. 

Edited April 10, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Sweet Impact Mama]

1 minute ago, Kerry Beal said:

Wonder if they would be willing to entertain something where you pay for the 1 kg at the beginning and they send you out 200 grams once a year? 

I'd have to ask them. Not entirely sure how that might work on their end, since I think they only package in 1kg containers. 

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, Sweet Impact Mama said:

I'd have to ask them. Not entirely sure how that might work on their end, since I think they only package in 1kg containers. 

It would be like sending you a sample once a year - that's around 200 grams I think?

[Sweet Impact Mama]

None that I've been able to tell, and I have a pretty strong sense of order or texture or taste discrepancies. 

[Sweet Impact Mama]

1 minute ago, Sweet Impact Mama said:

None that I've been able to tell, and I have a pretty strong sense of order or texture or taste discrepancies. 

8 minutes ago, Chocolot said:

Is there a smell or taste to them?

 

[Sweet Impact Mama]

2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

It would be like sending you a sample once a year - that's around 200 grams I think?

They sent about 4 ounces of each color. I could probably used 8 ounces of it, on my own, per year, pretty comfortably... maybe closer to 12.

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, Sweet Impact Mama said:

They sent about 4 ounces of each color. I could probably used 8 ounces of it, on my own, per year, pretty comfortably... maybe closer to 12.

So about 1/3 of your kg. How outrageous is the price of a kg?

[Sweet Impact Mama]

1 minute ago, Kerry Beal said:

So about 1/3 of your kg. How outrageous is the price of a kg?

The lowest prices is $248 and the highest is $380 per kilo.  And by my estimation, the ration of powder to cocoa butter is approx. 1/3 of an ounce to 8 ounces of cocoa butter.  Oooh - I just realized something! I wonder if they've tested whether mixing it in cocoa butter changes the shelf life at all? 

[Racing_Chocs]

Hello, my name is Matthew and ever since university I've been working with racing cars but am now looking to start making filled bonbons to finally scratch an itch that has just never gone away since I first successfully tempered a batch of chocolate.

 

I recently commissioned the creation of some custom moulds, shaped like racing helmets, with a view to supplying my filled bonbon creations to racing teams, as potential gifts for sponsors and hospitality guests. I plan to emulate some classic helmet designs (like Senna's helmet for my caramel) and also offer customisation, for any drivers who want the chocolates to resemble their own helmet designs.

 

The custom moulds will be produced in 40 shore silicone (FDA approved), with each mould weighing 2KG, sized somewhere around 250mm square and including 20 helmet cavities. I have also purchased a Chocovision Rev2, tabletop vibrating platform, airbrush and loads of other odds and sods to assist in the process. 

 

I won't receive the moulds until later this week (hopefully) but have been doing loads of practicing and research into how I could utlilise coloured cocoa butter to create various effects on the finished product. Does anyone know of any books that are filled with graphical explanations of this, something along the lines of "by using X tool and Y technique, you can produce Z result"?

 

My main concern is that the moulds will be difficult to decorate due to the limited accessibility of the cavity (my own fault I guess). Unlike a sphere mould where you can pipe straight lines easily, with helmet shaped cavities its a much more complex and time consuming process. I have included a couple of photos of a test helmet I cast last week. Please note that I gave little thought to the decoration of this piece, it was really just to test out whether 40 shore silicone would be too stiff for removal of the chocolate from the mould.

 

I would appreciate any advice you are able and willing to provide, as I embark on this new adventure.

 

Thanks

 

Matthew

 

[Lisa Shock]

I have tried using silicone molds for chocolates and it has never been successful, except for solid pieces. I prefer rigid polycarbonate molds. The silicone ones are always too flexible and do not seem to have smooth enough surfaces. I only use them for moist baked goods like cheesecake.

 

Edited June 11, 2018 by Lisa Shock (log)